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Show ' i i5? crriblc Disaster in Workings of St. Paul Coal Company at Ladd, HI.; Three :S Hundred Caught; OnSy I - Few Escape. $ FRANCE TO BURNING MINE SEALED ! i IN EFFORT TO CHECK SPREAD OF FLAMES lius AH Hope of Escape for Entombed Men Is Cut S I Off; Awful Scenes of Horror as Widows ;g I and Orphans Mourn. dS , LADD, I1L, Nov. IS. At least 250 miners wore killed hero today in' v Ct$i one of tho worst mine horrors in years. X I Twelve todies tonight had been taken from the mine of tho St. Paul T ' .' '.Coal company, which was set on Are this afternoon by a burning bale X 'Irt! , of hay in tho mule stable. T ;'. Tho men entombed number at least 260, according to tho estimates X ttii ',' ot tho mine officials, and that many can be rescued is beyond all pos- T jq ;.'ribnity ? 'sk Tonight the shaft of the burning mine was scaled after efforts to T 'Mt extinguish the flames had proved futile. j- a Tho town tonight was a scene of grief and terror. Women and V I children were moaning and crying in the streets. Many wives whose J- jj. 'I.biishands did not return from the fiery tomb were crazed with grief. X udt ? Every family in tho stricken town has felt the blow of tho calamity. j- n.n i' ' T Ifjjjj r'lio entrance to the miuo was board-ofl board-ofl i over in an effort to check Dio lleji bh. This ended all hope of escape f tie imjirisonctl miners. jsihs thrco veins, one MO feet bc-the bc-the surface, the miners were imam im-am MMfd and their only clianco for I 5 to retreat to the ends of tho jkjj m. in the hope there might be isiti air to preserve their lives un-?A un-?A Mtlp carac. J0" first explosion occurred shortly foil ' o'clock. It connuuniuntcd to oflj ter Efclions' of llio mine, and in less ;it i len minutes all hope o escape es shut off from the miuors. i jfi I CjEc Brings Up Bodies. iriiii labile smoke, and even .icts of flame, ! Urou"'1 ,iuc entrance, jf ? 2 which carried the minors to e jifi r'r Tork made regular trips. The llh it loads v.-erc iiiinei-s who escaped iH no Worso injuries t han burns or 1 lists received in tho rush for safety, it J'i trip of the cngo was made Urtf MS. the bodies of tlic.inino siiperin-"re siiperin-"re an"1 his assi3tauts wcr0 brought tl ,C5i A nil! bouraficr the explosion oi;-jflzr? oi;-jflzr? 1 the moutli of the shaft was winded by hundreds of frantic r psia, children and men. Many tried ccci' l':'cr c lnie but. gave up after 1 tat effort and were carried uu-: uu-: f1005 from tho smoko and escap-; escap-; liomes. 1-or nlmott two hours tho I Ws of the mine and residents of lw ( ?) tried to duviso incaus to help opnsoned miners. iriaoB; Iinposeihle to Escape. dm 'f EapcrhitendcMit .lames Sleolo de-AW de-AW nvo hours aftor the explosion it . iB''jnipoiPiblc that any of the. Sw fifl 0f JSt "lcn- oc f'u a lew , teininc at noon. Twrnty-fivo :no (fW'10, escaped alter tho fire 'SSrff olllurs (!,n,bllcss :n'c c&'Kw'f"0 ,0 t,,c ,,,inc WIS sc:l,(,(1 U Il0!ll! of Clucking the llames. ' Jnlnir effor,s wf! offipliils and scores l5rIS il . i 0nlv bo,,ie J 2y!lti 'If''ti r ?morr?w I,e11 covering l iBfeMiM'' a,Ml tenors endeavor nimtA . llc f,"K,K',-, ;,1Ml Hi's-elioUe.l ;u(rc L ?ns r t,,,r:''b' as to (he ls2lS'aiini la inouIi.r loo lontr liu- wlim' 5 una all exit was nnpos- "fiih?!sl" was bhown by officials J- . Iifirry. Tlfeso men, rfSm , ffl,'1 !'"a(1 b rui-liing into S'IL s:ivu fcl"' ,loonied k WmSr; a-iit Ki,Vf! i''.Ct,;al1,lK1-V.i, futiio .-r. tflk1-1- ll n 1 Vl",?l,scious P ' cud, . w,..n. nil f,hfl"llfts;"!;; pit with i, WtoiiHi Dome's 'iHWw ,",fi5i""ts , "oitc 'i nic-1 ""enti. 5 b' f bo if "'",'" been p,r ap'-' n -V0Ul' 11 fu the men when they were carried to him a few minutes later. At Lhe entrance of the shaft, hundrods of screaming women, weeping children and frantic, but helpless men, crowded crowd-ed about. A few survivors were surrounded sur-rounded by groups of tho women, and their answors to loudly shrieked inquiries inquir-ies only, added to the terror. Almost to a man they declared that there was no hope for those left belaud be-laud in the mine. Almost 200 of the men imprisoned, they declared, were in tlie third vein, the only entrance to which was from the second vein, fiOO feet from the main shaft of the pit. Desperate Situation. . Superintendent Stoolc roluclautly echoed ec-hoed the opinion of tho miners. When the extent of tho firo was realized Hie officials saw ordinary measures were ineffectual. in-effectual. The fire had burned away the limbers, and tho flames soon reached the escape shaft. A few minutes later the fan which supplied air to the shaft collapsed col-lapsed and tumbled through the opening. open-ing. Tho llames then swept on to the mouth of the pit, whero they were carried car-ried to tho surface, forcing back all those who ventured near. Tho officials knew tho firo must be eating its way back into tho shaft, and il. was decided to seal the mouth of the pit. Before this, water had been poured down tho escape shaft, but with no belter effect, than to impede any effort of those inside to escape. Pierce Struggle for Life. The survivors sanniany of lhe' miners min-ers had retreated to the furthermost, ends of the veins, whoro llioy might huddle together, gasping what little oxygen remained in the scaled and burning burn-ing mine in (he hope that the rescuers might reach them beforo it was exhausted. ex-hausted. The most hopeful of those seeking (o aid the men doubt that many will be found alive. The ony men (o escape were those near lhe main shaft when tho firo slarfed. They declared a careless miner min-er had thrown a torch on a bundlo of hay used Jo feed the mine mules. Iii a few minutes the smoldering mass was placed on a cart and started to ward the main shaft about iiJO feet away. Before it was reaehpad a small explosion ex-plosion occurred and in but a few moments (he entrance was tilled with smoke and flames. Those nearest the cages hurried lo thcin and wero hoisted hoist-ed to tho surface. After four trips tho cages ceased moving, and no more miners camo up. After wailing a few miuiiles, Buudy leaped into I ho cage, calling Xorberg and two miners. The latter were afraid, and Mien camo volunteers eager lo assist Buudy in the work of rescue. Flood. Lewis, lament i and Jiubinski des.'omlcd into (ho mine. The noxt tri of the cage, operated from below, carried the bodies of six miners.' Then, after a few minutes, ho cage again ascended, this timo bearing the unconscious bodies of three of the rescuing res-cuing parly. Again il was lowered and (ho lasL (if (ho six were brought up. All were d'.;ad. v Fire Beyond Control. Rv I his time tho fan hail eullapseA and lho lire was pouring up the shaft. It was thou that. hSuporiuteiidcnl Steele saw lhe escape, of tho miners through the shaft wns blocked, and ordered the sealing up of tho shall entrance. Heavy timbers wero soaked in water, plaeed across the shaft entrance and piled over wilh sand. The building above the escape shaft was wrecked, and lhe shuft .also sealed. Citv Attorney Ualloric.k of Spring Valley, who was at the scene, expressed t lie belief that not one of tho miners would be taken out alive. Jle is familiar fa-miliar with the const rncliou of the Si. Paul mine, and declared it certain the lire canned the death of all lhe men before tho opeuing had been scaled. Ilcart-brcaking Scenes. About the littlo town of Cherry the wildest, scenes followed. Stores and residences wro vacated and altnusl even- person of the- 0000 population gathered gath-ered about the mine, h'rom all directions direc-tions peoplo hurried into (ho city. Tho fdirieks of women could be heard throughout the town. Kvery local physician and many from nearby iowns were caring for hysterical hyster-ical relatives of those imprisoned in (he mine. The (own officials haslilv impro L'uiitiiiucd uu Page Two I TWO HUNDRED FIFTY DIE I IN GREAT MINK EXPLOSION Continued TTrom Page One. viod hospitals and provided unrscs and phvsicians for those who might be taken" tak-en" from the mine, but the prcprirlious were needless. . , Tho St. Paul mine is the only one in the town and provided employment for almost a thousand men., m jt is owned by the Chicago, Milwaukee Milwau-kee & St. Paul, railroad, and is on a spur of that railroad, about fifteen niilcs from Spring Valley. Chief Superintendent A . W. Taylor of the mine was hot hi tho city when i he accident occurred. ' May Eoduce Death List. Later versions Of the disaster given bv miners who escaped placed the list ot imprisoned in the mine at about 3Si. It was declared that the fife had boon burning mure than an hour before, it appeared dangerous. Befor.l that tunc ubout 180 of the 5G5 men had qdietly left the mine, it is said. The twelve known dorul whose bodies were recovered follow: JOHN DUNDY, mine superintendent. ALEXANDER NOKBBRO, pick man-""'tHOMAS man-""'tHOMAS FLOOD, mine foreman. ISAAC LEWS. . JOHN FEPMENT. TWO UNIDENT1FLED BODIES. JOSEPH YEARLY, .TAAT.ES JAMISON, .muss SPEER. HENBY STEWART. ROBERT CLARK. ' Practical minors- who watched the work ot 'rescue tonight assorted that it was almost impossible that any man could escape alive from the mine. , The sealing of the vhaft mouth, they said, while the only method of checking the fire, effectually shut off all air from the men while tho fire and tho smoko were forming noxidus gases which would fill every section of the exenvation. Ofiioials declared that air could reach the mine through tho open escape shaft. No similar accident has been recorded, in the history of mine disasters in Illinois. Illi-nois. Other Mine Disasters. The greatest loss of life in nny mine accident in this state occurred at Braid-wood Braid-wood iu 1S79, when eighty mon lost their lives. At Zciglor, 111., fifty men have been killed in successive mine accidents. There arc 150,000 men cm-ployed cm-ployed in Illinois mines anc for the List Hl fiscal year, 181 were killed in accidents and 800 injured. The greatest tragedy of mining history is belioved to have oceurrod iu Tokio, Japuri, in 11)07, when -170 persons were killed. The maximum loss of lifo iu a mine disaster in the United StateH was ro-corded ro-corded at Monangah, V. Vn., in 1007, when 80S miners were killed. ! Ouo pf tlio miners, who escaped from I tho Cherry mine, said tonight: I "The lights went out soon after the I fire started and loft everything in dark- nets. When the alarm or fire was heard I thero was a rush for the escape and ma-ui . shafts, bnt uompuniti"ei3' only a few could be saved. The smoke grew worse every minute. I It will not be possible to save any of the imprisoned wen," |
